Erotic novel
by Entrenue

No Better Than the First One.

Book two of the series is just as bad as book one. Christian and Ana are back together, and trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives. Of course it's not easy. Christian has a crazy ex who's on the loose. Ana still doesn't understand relationships. It's all just terrible literature, and I don't think I'll be able to make it through book three without setting the books on fire.
Published:
Pros
It gets the public to at least look at BDSM as a little less taboo
Cons
Badly written, Portrays BDSM as bad, and something that can be "cured"
Rating by reviewer:
2
useful review

About author

This is what I wrote about the author in my review for the first book, "Fifty Shades of Grey":

"The author is EL James. From what I found on her site, she's a mother of two, and looks to be in her thirties or forties. Fifty Shades of Grey is her first book along with Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed. From what I've heard from numerous sources she originally wrote this book as a Twilight fanfiction, and I can definitely see the similarities. I find her writing skills fairly poor, but she's good at holding attention."

In this book though, I found it took a lot more to hold my attention. It seems much more predictable, and it's just as badly written as book one. I did continue onto book three just to write a review on it, but this is probably the worst series I've ever read.
    • Dull

Content / Style / Audience

Warning: Don't read this review unless you've read book one. I don't want to let loose any spoilers for anyone.

The two main characters are Anastasia Steele, and Christian Grey. Ana is a dull, crazy-haired plain girl. Christian is a billionaire with a bad past. One thing that bothers me is how very unrealistic the characters are. Ana, at 21-22 knew almost nothing about sex in book one, and is still finding new things in book two. Even after being in a relationship with Christian who is into BDSM, she does nothing to research it in any way. She has also never once masturbated. Christian is incredibly rich, without ever really saying what his job is. He's also a professional at almost everything he does.

Book two starts off right where book one left off. Ana had just broke up with Christian, because he hit her a little too hard. Of course they get back together, and the rest of the book is about how Ana leaving Christian basically "cured" him of wanting to participate in his BDSM relationships. He also has a psycho ex-sub who just happens to be after him, and of course "Mrs. Robinson" shows up to verbally harass Ana. Something about this that bothers me, is that the only people in the book that you know for sure are into BDSM, also happen to be crazy. Mrs. R, for example seduced young Christian. The ex, is on the loose and is mentally unstable. Then you have Christian, who Ana calls "My Fifty", because he's fifty shades of fucked up.

This book also does not show a healthy relationship. Christian openly stalks Ana. I won't give any spoilers, but it goes far beyond just tracking her phone like he did in book one. He's also still very overprotective.

As far as the writing goes, it's still as bad as a poorly written 8th grade paper. If you took out everything her "inner goddess" or her "subconscious" said or did, the 532 pages would probably go down to about 300 pages. Ana also still says "Holy shit" on almost every page. She's still just as clueless about the world around her as well.

As far as the "Audience" for this book, it's been labeled as "mommy porn". Honestly though, you can find better smut on google. I wasn't turned on during any of the sex scenes, because they're all the same thing over and over, and her lack of knowledge of sex just makes it so laughable.

'Christian is going to put that THERE? Oh my, who would have guessed that someone touching THAT would feel so good?'
  • Who / How / What
    [ ? ]
    Who might this product be best for? How is it best used? What are the best circumstances or situations for using this product?
    • No one
  • General
    [ ? ]
    Other tags that are useful and descriptive for this product.
    • Bdsm
    • Erotica
    • Fiction

Design

The book cover has the words "Fifty Shades Darker" written in the top corner, and has a gray masquerade mask on the cover. It is in theory pretty discreet. However, this series has gotten so popular, if you read this in public, someone is bound to know what you're reading. I personally would put a slip cover over it to cover the shame of reading this.
    • Discreet cover
    • Soft cover

Personal comments

I personally hated this book. Christian acts like a nut-job, and Ana is perfectly ok with it. After she broke up with him, she pretty much only got back together with him because of how attractive he is. She knew he was into BDSM. The BDSM is what drove her away in the first place, but she just can't stay away.

She's also just as dumb as ever.

I think this book still portrays BDSM just as bad as the first book does. Ana still calls it fucked up, and is wary of it. Then she wants to go back into the "red room of pain". She throws mixed signals everywhere. You learn a lot more about Christian's past, and it's still all bad. You also learn about his ex subs, and a lot more about Mrs. Robinson. Of course, everyone into BDSM is a psycho in this book. There are no "average" people who just happen to enjoy kinky sex. That couldn't make a good story.

Experience

There were several times while reading this book, I had to stop myself from throwing it across the room, and I would have to tell my husband what happened. There are several parts of this book that just enraged me, because of how idiotic they all are about BDSM.

It's like the author looked up "BDSM" on wikipedia, and wrote a whole book about it.
Follow-up commentary
I'm still not a fan of this series at all. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. The story is predictable and bland. I believe it portrays an abusive relationship. I'm honestly appalled by this entire series, and the popularity it's gotten.
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Comments
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  • Contributor: Lildrummrgurl7
    Great review. I don't understand the hype around this book. I could hardly finish the second one when I was reading it.
  • Contributor: Princess-Kayla ?
    Thanks for reading.
    I agree. I don't understand how this book is suddenly "liberating" millions of women. Why weren't they capable of talking to their husbands before reading a badly written book? How sad.
  • Contributor: Petite Valentine
    "she pretty much only got back together with him because of how attractive he is" — How very liberating… /sarcasm.

    I won't read these books because I'm sure the writing will make me homicidal, but I enjoyed your review.
  • Contributor: Princess-Kayla ?
    Haha, thanks for reading. :3

    I have to agree with you. It's pretty terrible. I don't know how I didn't set the books on fire.
  • Contributor: SiNn
    ty for the review this book has gotten soo hyped i dont think ill nee dtoR ead these Reviews go along way
  • Contributor: Princess-Kayla ?

    Thank you for reading. Glad you liked it.
  • Contributor: HotMilk
    Thanks for the review.
  • Contributor: dsumrow1
    nice
  • Contributor: RedKyuubi
    nice review
  • Contributor: skeeterlynn
    Thank you for the review!
  • Contributor: animepanda89
    thanks
  • Contributor: animepanda89
    thanks
  • Contributor: Princess-Kayla ?
    Thanks for reading!
  • Contributor: Lvstoplay
    He was never "cured of BDSM", he's simply starting to overcome the sit from his past, making his relationship with Ana less abusive and more loving.
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